Hough: Instead of screening out, educators could be reaching out

Colleges and universities want the best community college transfers and most talented high school graduates to enroll in their programs. High school teachers want incoming freshmen to be well prepared in middle school. Middle schools want their young adolescents to have had a terrific elementary school experience. Elementary teachers want their children to have mastered the previous year’s objectives so they will be on target each year. Prior to starting kindergarten, schools want children to be “ready to learn.”

This is nothing new. It has been a subject of conversation in the education community for as long as I can remember. At every level, we want the previous experience to have prepared our charges for the rigor of the next.

I once knew of a non-public school years ago that used to screen potential students by testing and interviewing children prior to admitting them into kindergarten. If the 4- and 5-year-olds did not pass muster, the parents were told, “Your child is not _________ material.”

Shameful, isn’t it? Instead of screening children out, shouldn’t we be reaching out to help them get in? Parents as Partners as well as a host of other programs do heroic work in this regard. Still, our society struggles to support families (or the lack thereof). While we continue to raise the bar of rigor, we strive to create level ground from which all can jump.

Maybe what we need is a “systems” approach to education. From birth (perhaps before) to high school graduation and/or college and careers (perhaps beyond), do we need to reach out and drawn in, rather than push away and sort out?

What would a system like that entail? Would it be some type of comprehensive community or state partnership focused on lifelong health, education and career success?

David L. Hough, Ph.D., is professor and dean, College of Education, Missouri State University. You may contact him via email at DavidHough01@gmail.com. Views expressed in this column are solely those of Dr. Hough and do not necessarily represent Missouri State University positions.